Cause and Effect
There were many causes that worked together that created the effects of the
Dust Bowl. Take a look at the thinking map on the right to get an idea of the whole picture.
It had taken a thousand years for Nature to build an inch of topsoil on the Southern Plains, but it took only minutes for one good blow to sweep it all away. The water level of lakes dropped by five feet or more. The wind picked 
up the dry soil that had nothing to hold it down. Great black clouds of dust began to blot out the sun. In some places, the dust drifted like snow, darkening the sky for days, covering even well-sealed homes with a thick layer of dust on everything. Dust storms engulfed entire towns.
The primary impact area of the Dust Bowl, as it came to be known, was on the 
Southern Plains. The Northern Plains weren’t so badly affected, but the drought, dust, and agricultural decline were felt there as well. The agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Great Depression, whose effects were felt worldwide.
One hundred million acres of the Southern Plains were turning into a wasteland of the Dust Bowl. Large sections of five states were affected — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico.
The farmers in the High Plains had turned over too much soil too fast, leaving over 100 million acres stripped of its native Buffalo Grass and barren of any crop. This was combined with one of the driest summers on record and the results were catastrophic. The impacts of the Dust Bowl were felt for decades, and in many ways still resound today.
During a particularly bad storm on May 9, 1934, over three tons of dust for every American alive at the time traveled from west to east across the country. The dust blanketed Chicago, New York, Atlanta and other urban 
centers. It darkened the skies and choked those who ventured in it hundreds of miles from its source. The storm spanned 1,800 miles, spreading 350 million tons of dust across the nation.
The worst storm of the Dust Bowl, however, occurred on April 14, 1935, known as Black Sunday. Carrying dust up to 200 miles out into the Atlantic coast, the storm blackened cities and traveled at over 100 miles per hour. 
Animals and insects fled south and those that couldn’t get out of the way of the storm often perished.
A single dust storm could generate enough static electricity to short circuit radios and cars. Blue flames would often be seen erupting from barbed wire fences during dust storms, the result of the static charge created by the friction of the sand moving at high speeds through the air. The electrical charges were so strong that full grown men were knocked off their feet if they accidentally touched something that was filled the static, or even if they shook hands with another person. People dragged chains around, making contact with the ground, in order to offset the static electricity. On Black Sunday alone, enough static electricity was produced to power New York City. 
When a storm blew in, people were never safe. Dust particles would find their way through cracks in walls and windows and around doors. Dust clogged 
people’s ears, noses, and mouths. The buildup of this dust in the lungs caused what came to be known as “dust pneumonia,” which is a lot like Silicosis, a serious occupational respiratory disease. Every person, young or old, living in the High Plains during that era suffered at least moderately from dust pneumonia, and many died from it or suffered health conditions for decades afterward.
Recurrent dust storms wreaked havoc, choking cattle and pasture lands and driving 60 percent of the population from the region. Most of these “exodusters” went to agricultural areas first and then to cities, especially in the Far West.
Click HERE for video interview
Out of the Dust 